This application relates to a system which utilizes ultrasonic waves to create gas bubbles in a fuel flow.
Gas turbine engines are known and typically include a number of systems. As one example, a fuel supply system supplies fuel to a combustor. Typically, a fuel pump delivers the fuel from a fuel tank.
Inevitably, oxygen is mixed into the fuel. Transferring heat to fuel helps provide thermal control for valves, pumps, electronics, and gearboxes, among other ancillary hardware. As more heat is transferred to the fuel, temperatures rise, and dissolved oxygen combined with this high temperature result in fuel varnish/coke coating internal surfaces of fuel line components and nozzles, causing degraded performance and limited life. As such, it is known to attempt to remove the dissolved oxygen from the fuel prior to its use as a heat sink.
A number of systems have been developed. In one such system, a membrane is placed within a deoxygenator. When the oxygen contacts this membrane, it moves across the membrane and into a chamber from which it may then be removed.
However, there are challenges with such systems. In particular, the oxygen may be mixed rather homogenously within the fuel and it must be brought in contact with the membrane to be removed with such systems. It has been proposed to create bubbles of oxygen within the fuel using venturis and other systems.
In addition, it is known to create cavitation within the deoxygenator by utilizing sound waves. Sound generators are placed in the deoxygenator to create the cavitation and thus gas bubbles.